Henderson N. White
was born in Romeo, Michigan, on July 16, 1873. As a young child Henderson
was captivated by how things work and making improvements. He made his first
musical instrument at age thirteen, a Cuban cigar box violin which is still
around today.

Starting in the
Detroit shop of O. F. Berdan, Henderson N. White dreamed a dream of truer,
finer band instruments. His repair work and daily contact with musicians taught
him the weaknesses of the instruments then used. And his musician's instinct
could not be content with their imperfections.

Setting himself
to the task of making that dream come true, Mr. White soon gained more that
a local reputation. Learning always from band masters who visited that little
shop in Detroit; studying in every spare moment; and experimenting always;
it wasn't long before other cities heard about him.

When McMillin's
Music Store of Cleveland needed a competent man to take charge of their repair
work they turned to this young student.

But the dream urged
Mr. White on. After five years with McMillin he branched out into a partnership
with C. H. Berg. During this time the company sold imported instruments

and ran a very
effective repair shop. The shop was located on 13 woodland Ave and was very
small. In 1893 Mr. White became sole owner of the business and then the realization
of the dream was close at hand.

For in 1894 the
first "King" trombone came from Mr. White's tiny workshop. But it
wasn't "just another trombone." Building into it all that he had
learned, blending knowledge with the love of accomplishment, that first trombone
was a revelation to the musical world. And with help from Mr.
Thomas King, a local trombone player who helped Mr. White perfect his
invention. What developed was radically different from the then prevailing
models in bell, bore and mouthpipe, the "King" Trombone was acclaimed
by band men everywhere. The first famous musician to play this new trombone
was Al
Pinard, who did his best to get others to try a "The King".
From 1894 to 1908 each trombone slide was actually made by H.
N. White. Band Players loved the King trombone because the slide was finer
and smoother and lighter in action than any other. With this success Mr. white
soon ran out of space, and moved the operation to 1870 East 9th Street, in
the Erie Building in 1897.

Mr.
Hugh E. White, brother of H. N. White came to the company in 1903 to organize
a credit department for the efficient handling of accounts, and later moved
into the Vice President's position (leaving in 1940ís). The H. N. White Company
was one of the first to extensively advertise and offer credit purchase plans.
Then in 1904 F. A.
Reynolds became Superintendent of the factory floor.

Mr. White's
goals for his company were to constantly strive to build better instruments
with the highest quality, and build each instrument acoustically correct.
Starting in 1909 Mr. White made the "Department of Acoustical Research"
and purchased (what is thought of as) the worlds largest set of tuning bells.
Every instrument in production would spend time being developed, and looking
for the smallest of improvements. Mr. White never started production on any
instrument unless the new design was a vast improvement in both tone and quality.

Also, 1909 Mr.
White moved from the little workshop to 5225 superior Avenue in Cleveland,
Ohio with 38,000 square feet of new work space. Once settled down, Mr. White
started holding lunch time concerts two or three times a week to fine tune
his craftsmen and instruments.

Some
time in 1908 King began importing Evette & Schaeffer saxophones and selling
them as a less expensive alternative to American made saxes. Then in 1910
Carl Fisher Instruments became sole distributor of Evette & Schaeffer
saxophones and Mr. White was forced to look elsewhere. Mr. White chose to
import V. Kohlert saxophones while he built up the King facilities to enter
into his own production of saxophones. Finely around 1916 Mr. White began
producing his own saxophones and by 1925 he introduced a new series of horns
eight (C soprano, straight and curved Bb sopranos, Bb saxello, Eb alto, C
melody, Bb tenor and Eb baritone) horns made in Cleveland. From 1917 to 1918
the entire production of saxophones was made for the government during World
War I. Saxophones produced during the War are engraved with U. S. or some
other type of engraving which tells which branch of the military it went to.
(U. S. N. =Navy, U. S. M. C.=U. S. Army Quartermaster Corps) These saxophones
featured many new improvements by King associate Mr.
Henry Dreves. The most interesting of these improvements was the introduction
of the King "Saxello" in the early 1920's. The saxello was a curved
neck and a bell tipped at a right angle on a straight soprano.

It was in 1917
that a separate small building was erected beside the main plant for development
of a line of woodwind instruments. By the 1920's King woodwinds, along with
King brasses and horns, took their places in the finest orchestras.

During this time
frame the King work force grew to over two hundred men. Mr. White never "hired"
workers, they had to be skilled artist-craftsmen who had a love for fine work.
This allowed Mr. White to offer almost endless list of options (six finishes)
ranging simple highly polished brass to artist special gold hand burnished.
King also made it own cases for each instrument it manufactured and for other
producers.

Some time during
the middle to late 20's Mr. White became the first instrument maker to introduce
sterling silver bells on King instruments. Mr. White thought that the silver
bells of trombones offered better tone and tone carries farther with less
vibrations.† The "Silver
Tone" bell was then introduced and carried throughout the King line
up. Today, King "Silver Sonic" and "Silver Tone" bells
are sought over for their great tone and wonderful engravings.

The 1920's also
saw the introduction of the King French Horn. With it's marvelous tone, this
was the first American made French Horn to break down the tradition and prejudice
for foreign makes.

The King French Horn was an immediate sales success.

Below, is a picture of Mr. White (far right) watching his skilled artist-craftsmen
assemble his "new" French horn.

In 1925
Mr. White bought the Cleveland Musical Instrument Company. The Cleveland Musical
Instrument Company was formed in February of 1919 and was known for their
Cleveland Trumpet. The Company was successful for awhile and at one time employed
fifteen people. But as frequently happens with new companies, overhead and
expenses were too great for the volume of business they could command. For
two years The H. N. White Company made instruments for Cleveland to help fill
back orders. Mr. White saw the Cleveland brand as the perfect fit to cover
the growing school band market which demanded high quality instruments at
a low price. The Cleveland brand, along with American Standard were marketed
to marching bands and schools. Both were about 40% less in price than a "King."

Mr. H. N. White
was by all accounts a workaholic, but he did enjoy card games, fishing, and
going to the the Cleveland symphony. On March 17, 1932 Mr. White Married a
third time to Edna Richert a then department store gown buyer. The two of
them had a love of music and theater. Edna had a child from a previous marriage
named Cathryn and Mr. White quickly adopted the precocious eleven year old.
(As a side note, Dr. Frank Simon would visit from Cincinnati and stay with
Mr. and Mrs. White and during this time he taught Cathryn how to swim). Cathryn
played Clarinet (a King Silver bell) and each summer she was sent to band
camp at Cedar Point. During the 1936 Summer a picture was taken of the entire
band (with Cathryn) and H. N. White could not resist the opportunity to put
his Daughter in White
Way News Number Nine. Because Mrs. White was a working girl, Henderson
put her in charge of the White Apartments. The White Apartments had fallen
on hard times and Mrs. White quickly cleaned them up and turned them around.
For many years the two of them would drive to work together, first stopping
at the White Apartments to drop off Edna, then Mr. White would continue to
the plant.

Through
the depression years to the beginning of World War II, The H. N. White Company
moved steadily forward with its planned program of making a wider variety
of musical instruments. In 1934 King stringed instruments were introduced
with the big Bass Viol. This
was followed in 1936 with the King Cello. In 1938 Mr. White created the silver-lined
clarinet and finished developing the Trombonium.
The Trombonium was a valve trombone designed to be used in school bands and
orchestras. Also in 1934, The H. N. White Company became the first musical
instrument manufacture to offer group life insurance to all of its 152 craftsmen.
The policy was of the contributing type with the premium payments being paid
by both employer and employees.(1)

In
1936 F.A. Reynolds left King to start his own short-lived company. Early Reynolds
instruments closely resemble King instruments with few if any improvements
over the original design. In the late forties Mr. Reynolds sold his company
and eventually Reynolds was owned by Norlin.

Then in March 26,
1940 at the age of 65 Mr. H. N. White died suddenly. During his remarkable
career as a designer and manufacturer of musical instruments, Henderson White
redesigned twenty eight instruments. Mr. White made a huge impact on the manufacturing
of musical instruments, because of his passion for high quality perfect sounding
instruments.

Following Mr. White's
death, Hugh E. White took over as President of the company while the heirs
worked out who was in control. Mrs. Edna White, and her daughter Miss Cathryn
White together controlled two-thirds of the stock in The H. N. White Company.
Then in the middle of 1941, Mrs. Edna White took control of the company as
President just as World War Two started.